Pediatric acupuncture: a review of clinical research.
Practiced in China for more than 2000 years, acupuncture has recently gained increased attention in the United States as an alternative treatment approach for a variety of medical conditions. Despite its growing prevalence and anecdotal reports of success among pediatric populations, few empirically based studies have assessed the efficacy of acupuncture for children and adolescents. This article presents a review of the current literature, including a systematic appraisal of the methodological value of each study and a discussion of potential benefits and adverse effects of acupuncture. While acupuncture holds great promise as a treatment modality for diverse pediatric conditions, a significant amount of additional research is necessary to establish an empirical basis for the incorporation of acupuncture into standard care.
Gold
Jeffrey I
JI
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Department of Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. jgold@chla.usc.edu
Nicolaou
Colette D
CD
Belmont
Katharine A
KA
Katz
Aaron R
AR
Benaron
Daniel M
DM
Yu
Wendy
W